Steel
by catlady5000
Summary: When Mia was six, her brother ran away. Ever since that night, Mia has never fit in. But when her parents divorce, Mia moves to the small town of Parksville with her mother and Mia finally makes friends. But when they take her to the world of fey to fufill her unkown destiny and learn the truth about her brother, can Mia really trust them? Similar to Iron Fey Series.
1. Parksville Shore High

I walked into class and immediately fell into a chair at the back of the room. It was half way through my first day at my new school, Parksville Shore High school and so far my friend count remained at what it usually was. Zero. The teacher hadn't arrived yet so I plugged in my headphones and slumped back on my chair. Although the music was pounding into my ears, my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about why I had even been sent here. Oh, right. Because my parents divorced. Mum and I had moved from our country home, to the cheap, sunny suburb of Parksville. My dad had stayed behind, so I have to travel into the country every second weekend to go and see him.

I had a brother too. Peter. I was six when he disappeared. Peter was on medication for his insomnia, fits of anger and anxiety and our parents were always fighting in the house. When they finally announced the divorce, Peter seemed ok about it. He went upstairs but I heard him slam the door. I didn't want to cry in front of my parents because they wouldn't understand, so I followed him. He was shoving everything into his small suitcase and when I saw him he slowed and came over to me. He crouched down on one leg. I asked where he was going. He told me he would be gone a little while. He promised he would come back for me. He promised he would call me every night. But after that night I never saw him again. He never came back for me. He never even called.

Then mum and I moved here and I went to a small school. I was there for six years and I was an outcast. Everyone picked on me for no other reason than that of they were bored and had nothing better to do. At the end of my sixth year, I was fifteen. Mum took me out of the school and put me in this school in hope that I might soon fit in somewhere. Sorry mum.

The teacher walked in and slammed her books onto her table, shaking me out of my daze. The rest of class flew past in a blur and when the bell rang, I felt sick. I had to go to lunch. I walked out of the classroom and to my locker. After about five minutes of fumbling with my lock, it spun oped and all my books cascaded to the floor. A few girls who walked past laughed at me and tossed back their long, beautiful hair. Once I had packed my books away, I walked to the cafeteria. It was a crowded room filled with yells and shouts as people tossed items to each other. As I walked to get my food, I saw a guy chuck tomato sauce on another guy's head. The guy with sauce on his head spilt water down the first guys' shirt. I walked past and noticed a table of people in the back corner of the room talking quietly. All the seats on the table were full except one. They were all strikingly beautiful. Every other seat in the cafeteria was taken so I was going to have to try and make some friends. I grabbed my lunch. It was now or never. I walked up to the table and they all looked up at me. I didn't know what to say so I stared blankly for a while before coming to my senses and speaking.

"Umm…hi. I'm new here and I don't…"

"Yes we already know, Mia. Sit," said a girl with blonde hair. She looked at me as if she already knew all my deepest, darkest secrets, but still accepted me as I am. They all did. But I could sense there was something about them that was different. I didn't know if was just the fact that they had let me in, or if it was the fact someone had actually spoken to me, I couldn't tell. As I ate lunch with them I noticed some of them looking at me strangely. But not like they were going to pick on me like everyone else would. It wasn't the look I got from most people. It wasn't the regular 'I haven't even met you but I would really like to make your life a misery' look. It was a different look. When they looked at me they looked understanding and…fearful.

As the bell rang for the end of lunch I walked to my next class and automatically walked to the back of the classroom. The teacher hadn't arrived yet. I was about to plug in my headphones but suddenly she was right next to me. Startled, I looked up to find the same blonde girl who sat next to me at lunch was now sitting next to me in class. She was the same as I had first seen her. She had the same bright blonde hair and porcelain skin. Her eyes were a striking silver colour, a colour I had never seen before.

"Hi," she said, her voice soft and rich.

"Hey," I replied in a cautious voice. And then there was a slam at the front of the room as the teacher waltzed in and slammed her books firmly on the desk. The teacher turned to the chalk board without another glance at the class and began talking.

"Hey Mia?" the girl whispered at me. I turned my head in her direction and she held out her hand, a folded piece of paper clutched in her fingers. I just stared blankly until she nudged it forward at me and I got the idea. Oh, right, I was meant to take the piece of paper. As I took the paper and unravelled it I wondered a few things to myself. Is this what passing notes is like? Is this what all the cool people do? I looked at the paper and read the words which were scribbled in a distinctive handwriting: _Hey Mia, meet us at the coffee shop after school today? Love Alexia xxx_

I knew the place. There was a local coffee shop at the village at the end of the road near our school. I walked past it every day. I flipped the piece of paper over and scribbled 'I'll be there'. I reached out to hand her the note but a booming voice rang out through the air.

"Passing notes in class are we? I do realise you are a new student but here at Parksville Shore High school we do not cater for that type of behaviour." I froze. Please don't give me a detention. Please don't. I've just made a new friend and please don't screw this up. The teacher sighed and turned back to the board.

"We are, however, allowed to make exceptions for new students. But just this once. I will not accept this type of behaviour ever again." I sighed with relief and dropped the note into Alexia's hand before slumping back into my chair. I felt her smile as she read it. But it was more of a sad smile. I suddenly felt excited for this afternoon where I would do this 'hanging out' with my new friends.


	2. The Taking

After the bell rang I walked out of school and walked down the road to the local village. As I was walking down the road, I passed a couple of girls whose lockers were next to mine. The leant in to each other and whispered something as I walked past. At that moment I wanted to go back. What if these new 'friends' of mine didn't actually like me at all? I pushed that thought away from my mind and entered the coffee shop. A small bell rang and I saw Alexia sitting at a small table opposite a guy with dark hair. I walked over to them. When Alexia saw me she got up and surprised me by giving me a hug. I never knew how nice it was to have friends.

"Mia!" she said in a high, happy voice. "I'm so glad you came! Follow me." She led me out the door and around the back of the coffee shop where the rest of the people at the table in the cafeteria were waiting. The guy with dark hair joined us so I assumed he was one of them.

"Mia!" they all called, looking happy to see me. Their bright smiles make me flustered and I almost felt dizzy from all the attention. Suddenly everyone grew quiet. Alexia stared at me with a hard silver gaze and her smile faded. She stopped laughing and her eyes went grey.

"Mia," she began in a hushed whisper. "We have something to tell you." I stepped back quickly. I always hated it when people said that to me. When people said they had something to tell me. That is what my mother said when she forgot to buy my birthday cake. That is what my grandmother said when grandpa died. That is what my parents said before they announced the divorce and that is what my brother said before he ran away. I took another step backwards and winced as memories came rushing through me like a flood, carrying all the pain and sorrow I'd felt with it.

"Mia, please. Just…hear me out." I stopped and froze, waiting for her to continue.

"I don't know how to say this but…you need to come with us." I didn't even know these people. I had spent one lunch with them. I had known them for one day. I was not going to follow these…strangers like a puppy following its master because I didn't even know most of their names. I was not going anywhere with them. I took a step back.

"Why?" I asked, questioning why they needed me to come with them. Why couldn't they tell me here? And then I realised where I was. I was alone with these strange people out the back of a coffee shop and if I was to be murdered no one would know what had happened to me. The thought frightened me and I took another step back.

"Because Mia," Alexia continued edging forward. "What if I told you I knew what happened to your brother?" I froze. I didn't move. I couldn't. I just stared blankly. Alexia edged forward and so did the rest of the group, slowly forming a circle around me.

"Please Mia, you have to come with us."

"No!" I yelled and I watched a tear fall from her eye. I didn't pay attention to it though, I was too worried about everyone forming a circle around me.

"Get back," I cried. As the circle of people narrowed around me, I screamed.

"Wh…What have you done!?" I cried. Alexia sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes. What were they doing to me? What did they want? How did they know anything about Peter?

"It's not something I've done," she began, standing on the outside of the circle, her blonde hair flowing in the light breeze. "It's something I'm doing." Her silver eyes went blank as she answered the unspoken question. I couldn't tell if she was looking at me but she froze, her cold blank stare focused on nothing.

"I'm kidnapping you." Then her blonde hair, blank silver gaze and pale skin disappeared. The circle of strange people vanished. And then I lost all sense of direction and fell; which direction I'll never know, but I felt nothing. Even when I was falling, I felt nothing. I felt nothing.


	3. The Unseelie Court

I was cold. The minute my eyes creaked open, I was cold. I glanced around to find I was in a large room strapped to a chair in the centre. There was one set of double doors but no windows. I watched as my breath coiled around me, indicating that this room was way to cod for my body. I noticed that the room was coated with…frost. I shuddered. What kind of place was this? Where was I? I struggled, trying to force my hands out of the steel that bound them but it was no use. I felt like I was in one of those maths problem solving questions. If a girl was chained to a chair by steel handcuffs with no windows and one door, how does she escape? Well, I was never good at maths so…there goes my only option of escape. If my brother were here he would know a way out. My brother was practically a genius. His IQ was higher than that of Einstein's, making him the schools smartest person. He knew the answer to everything. And, yes, that included near impossible maths problems. I had faith in him. But he wasn't here. I continued struggling with the chains binding my wrists behind me, and tying my ankles together. Suddenly I heard talking outside the door.

"We have to tell her everything," whispered a female voice. I heard a higher voice reply but I couldn't make out what it said. Suddenly, the doors tall, dark lady burst through, Alexia following behind. I turned my head away from Alexia. How could she do this to me? She wasn't a friend. I turned to look at the other lady. She wore a long black dress with tall heels. Her dark hair fell over her shoulder and her eyes were almost pure black. They were dark and unforgiving eyes and immediately I was afraid. I stopped struggling with my chains as both of them approached.

"Mia," the woman whispered, her eyes a cold, stone black. "You have so much to learn." I glared.

"What do you want?" I said gritting my teeth as I tried to slide my wrists out of the handcuffs, cutting them in the process.

"Mia do you know why we have brought you here?" I didn't reply. The woman paced around me. Alexia stood by the door, not coming any closer. When the woman realised I wasn't answering she straightened.

"I am Mab, Queen of the Unseelie court," she lowered her head to mine and stroked my cheek with a long, dark blue fingernail. "And you will always answer to me." I squirmed in my chair. What the heck was the Unseelie court? Where was I? What did the queen of this place want with me? Suddenly I saw something, looking into the queen's black eyes I saw something. I saw I woman tall and dark, much like the woman I'd just met. This woman was standing over a chair. Bound to the chair by steel chains was a girl. A girl who looked a bit like…me. I froze as my mind showed me the vision of what had just happened. And then it continued.

"Speak girl! Are you the seer? Do we confide in you!?" the dark woman bellowed. Then she turned to Alexia who shrugged and muttered.

"No. I don't think she is. I don't know what she is," she whispered helplessly.

"Then you will be punished for this inconvenience!" The dark woman swiped Alexia across the face and I screamed, bringing me back into the present. What just happened? I looked up and saw Queen Mab towering over me.

"Speak girl! Are you the seer? Do we confide in you?!" I froze. I had just seen a…vision of this. I had just watched…the future. Alexia spoke then, exactly like she had in my vision.

"No. I don't think she is. I don't…" I interrupted her, knowing what would happen next.

"I am. I'm the seer." I didn't want her to get punished by this ruthless Queen. I had to protect Alexia because if she knew something about my brother, I needed to know. Even if I wasn't the seer, whatever that meant. Queen Mab sighed and thankfully paced around me, detouring from the vision I had. Hopefully that meant Alexia wouldn't get punished. Queen Mab sighed and put her hands on her hips. She tuned to the guards at the door.

"I can't deal with this now. I'm tired. Let the girl stay here tonight. Get her a bed and make sure she does not escape." Her eyes fixed me with a cold stare before walking out of the room, her shoes creating an eerie clicking sound behind her. Alexia followed but she mouthed something I couldn't quite make out but it looked like she said 'I'll come back for you.' I didn't need another broken promise. Once Alexia and Queen Mab left the room, I was suddenly alone, tied to a chair in a frost coated room.


	4. The Man In The Corner

Scared and alone, I waited. I waited quietly, not wanting to cry or scream with the guards standing outside, watching intently. The guards suddenly barged into the room, unclipped the handcuffs, leaving me rubbing me cut wrists and threw a pillow and blanket on the floor. They turned and left the room and I heard them lock the doors. I was free. I stood up and pushed the chair over, giving it the ugliest glair possible. Freezing I ran over to the blanket and pillow and lay down. The ground was cold and hard. I felt it pushing into my back. I felt like I was lying on steel. What had I gotten myself into? Thanks to my stubborn will to find out about my brother and help Alexia, I now have to pretend I am a 'seer' (whatever the heck that is) and this dark queen is going to confide in me and all the while I'm stuck in this cold place which I assume is the Unseelie court but I don't even know where it is! I've never heard of the place! I sobbed into the small, uncomfortable pillow and noticed frost creeping up on top of the bed covers. Frustrated, I brushed it off and continued sobbing pointlessly.

"Don't do that," a stern voice came from behind me. I rolled over, tears staining my cheeks to see a tall dark figure standing, slouched in the doorway. Behind him, in the corridor outside my room, I looked out the window and saw the starless night pour into a window. I blinked and sat up under my thin blanket.

"Wh-who are you?" A tall, lean figure with dark hair stepped out of the dark and came into view. The figure laughed and tossed his head back. I cringed. I couldn't see his face, but I could see the sharp angles in his face, the outline of his strong jaw and his bright blue silver eyes. He still lounged against the wall.

"No. The question is who are you? Are you really the seer?" I blinked, suddenly aware of how laidback he was; arms crossed over his chest and his heels kicked up.

"I'm Mia," I replied, trying to sound cool about it. "I'm Mia…" just as I was about to say my full name a screeching voice called out.

"Stop!" Alexia called out, her high voice cutting through the air like a knife. She looked tired, as though she had come running from the other side of the world just to get here. As if she knew what was coming. For a minute I wondered if maybe she had seen a…a vision too. Like me. She came barging into the room. Even though the room managed to obscure the dark, mysterious figure against the wall, the dark wasn't quite strong enough to cover her bright blonde hair and pale skin. I stood up from under the worn out blanket, suddenly noticing the seriousness of the situation.

"Alexia," the man said, giving a small bow as she passed him and walked over to me. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes. I took a step back. A silence fell, making me feel awkward. I thought that now was probably the only chance I'd get to ask the question I desperately needed to know the answer to.

"What's a seer?" Alexia cringed and the man at the door let out a laugh.

"Oh, so she's not the seer? Alexia, shame on you," he continued sarcastically. Alexia shouted over the top of him.

"She wouldn't know what she was if it slapped her in the face!" Once everyone was silent, Alexia's voice changed to a hushed whisper as she turned away. "Because she's human." The man gasped and shook his head.

"Th – that's impossible," he mumbled, unbelieving.

"No. How can it be when her father is a seer himself? Logically, it would mean she is a seer too," Alexia continued when suddenly, a look of realization struck her face.

"If she is the seer, and her brother is the prophesied one," Alexia mumbled staring at the ground. They both spoke together as if on que, knowing exactly what to say.

"Then it is prophesied that you are the one who is destined to save the Nevernever." I froze. I didn't even know what the 'Nevernever' was. I didn't know what a seer was. I refused to believe my father was one too and now, all of a sudden, my brother is part of a prophecy which centres on me saving this Nevernever. Suddenly, I noticed the door was wide open.


	5. Hansel and Gretel

I bolted out the door, Alexia and the strange man calling after me. I ran free. But then suddenly I was thrown back into the present. The temptation was almost too great. I could get home, but I needed to stay. I needed to know what this world had to do with my brother. I needed to know so many things but all I could think to comment on was the temperature.

"Why is it always so cold?" The man laughed and I glared at him.

"Only this part of the Nevernever is cold. You're in the winter court." Ok, so I was in _a winter court._ I looked around.

"So I suppose there is going to be a summer court right?" The man nodded.

"Yep. And an iron one too." Ok so there are three courts. I rubbed my arms.

"Can we go to the summer one please?" I asked, my teeth chattering.

"No," the strange man mumbled. "If you really are the seer, then we're going to the iron court." Who was this guy and why was he saying _"we". _

"We?" I questioned. "Who are you?" I continued looking at the man who had come into this room, and mysteriously hung around for too long. Usually, I would be more alert but this place was so cold I could even think straight.

"I'm Hansel," he replied, finally pushing himself up out of the door frame and stepping into the moonlight. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes. He carried a sword which hung low around his waist.

"Oh, ok, you want me to believe that you are the famous fairy tale character who saved him and his sister from an evil witch?"

"Yup." Oh, great. Now fairy tale characters were joining the party. Fantastic.

"And…umm…" I began softly, before raising my voice in a yell. "What the hell are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be like…four years old?!"

"Yeah but kids grow up, don't they?" he said sarcastically. Rage bubbled inside me.

"Not fairy tale ones!" I shot back hoping I was right.

"Yes they do!"

"Do not!" Alexia piped up, interrupting our childish argument.

"Ok, we'll explain from the beginning and hopefully you'll…almost…understand after that." I didn't know what to do. I still couldn't forgive Alexia completely for how she betrayed my trust, not just yet. So I just stood in the centre of the frost coated room staring cautiously at Hansel. _How did he get here? He's a fairy tale character! _We were busy, throwing cautious glances at each other when I realised how cold it was. I shivered as a fierce wind howled through the door, whipping through my hair. The cold was almost too much to bare then. I heard Alexia's voice but it sounded blocked and muted. Suddenly I felt my eyelids drop and something hard hit the back of my head and I was falling again.

I woke up in a hammock in a cave, hidden by a thick canopy of vines, too thin enough to keep out the watery moonlight. Suddenly, memories came rushing back. Alexia, Queen Mab, the Winter court, the prophecy, the seer, Hansel and Gretel. I shoved those memories into the back of my mind and climbed out of the hammock. I turned around and saw that the cave was much deeper than I expected. At the back of the cave behind my hammock, everyone else was sleeping. Pools of water surged across the caves floor as though it was alive. Shivering, I ran outside, through the curtain of vines and stopped dead in my tracks. Outside was even worse. A landscape of thick, eerie trees stretched out before me. Fog stuck to the ground, twisted patterns looping around the tree trunks. I gasped, not at the disgustingly unnatural landscape before me, but the creature that rose up from the fog. A snake like animal rose from the ground, twisting and coiling around the air. When it saw me, it bared it's dagger like teeth. It positioned itself ready to attack and I screamed. Instead of attacking me, it suddenly howled a gut wrenching cry of dismay as an arrow landed in between its eyes, sinking right into its head. The monster howled again and collapsed. I darted back and rolled out of its way as its head landed inches from my own. Shock hit me first and then relief. I slowly and shakily stood up and spun around to see where the arrow came from. A girl stood holding a bow and arrow. Her brown hair blew wildly around her and a smile grew on her cheeks as she looked at the dead monster.

"Wh-Who are you?" She walked past me and over to the monster. She reached down and as she pulled the arrow from its head she laughed.

"I'm Gretel."


	6. The Prophecy

"And who are you?" Gretel asked, tossing her bow and arrow over her shoulder. I was too shaken to reply. I was stranded in this magical world and a fairy tale character has just saved me from being eaten by a large snake like monster. Though Gretel was not like I would have imagined her, she wasn't a child. She was much older, about my age, as was Hansel. They were both my age, Gretel slightly younger. She looked as though she had been living in the forest for a long time; wild and dangerous.

"Are you alright?" Gretel asked curiously. I slowly started to shake my head. She laughed.

"Come with me." She took me to a small clearing further away from the cave and we sat down on the grass.

"Now," she began. "Let me explain." Finally! I might just find out what this world was and what it had to do with my brother. I listened eagerly.

"Um…ok…you are in the Nevernever, the land of fey. Fey are creatures born from the dreams and imaginations of mortals. The Nevernever is divided into three sections, Summer, Winter and Iron. Most fey are allergic to iron, so when the mortals began dreaming of computers and technology, the iron court was on a rampage to destroy the whole Nevernever. Luckily, the iron queen rose to power and saved the entire land. With me so far?" I took a shaky breath. Ok, that was a lot to take in. So all my nightmares and dreams turned into magical creatures that lived here. As strange as this sounds, I wasn't surprised. After seeing the snake creature, I was willing to believe just about anything.

"What has this got to do with me and my brother?"

"Well…there is a prophecy. After the Nevernever was saved from the iron court and the false king was defeated, there was finally peace. Everyone was overjoyed, but it never lasted. There was once a seer. A seer is someone who can see visions, see the future." At the word seer I jumped. I had visions. Like in the Winter court with Queen Mab. I was often plunged into the future at the strangest times. I had no control over it, but it had been happening even since I was born. I was the seer. _Oh God, this prophecy did really have something to do with me._ I didn't tell Gretel, I wasn't sure if I could trust her yet. I wasn't sure if I could trust anyone.

"Anyway, the seer, he knew something. He was a faery who lived in the mortal world, so he travelled into the Nevernever and told the prophecy to the guardian of the end of the world right before she died. Once they were gone, some years passed. Then the guardian told the people of the Nevernever."

"What's the prophecy?" I whispered.

"I can't remember but I think it went something like this: The seer will have two children; mortal seers. One will travel into the world of fey and take over the iron court, using the power of power hungry souls, and plunge the Nevernever into chaos. Summer and winter will untie, sending fourth a winter sidhe, two children from a witches cottage, a winter prince, the rightful iron queen and her summer friend, and you, the mortal seer to restore peace to the Nevernever." I shuddered. No. This isn't real. This is a nightmare and now I am going to wake up. I pinched my arm, and retreated back when I realised I didn't wake up. That this wasn't a dream. It was real.


End file.
